Have an Interesting Role in Zila Ghaziabad: Eijaz Khan

Here's the handsome hunk in a frank chat about his next films, handling fame, his girlfriend, and more...

Eijaz Khan is known for his strong TV portrayals. Few know that he's also been a part of a handful of films. But the ambitious actor will make sure the cine-buffs sit up and take notice of his super acting skills in two of his upcoming big films – Zila Ghaziabad and Lucky Kabootar. Here's the handsome hunk in a frank chat about his next films, handling fame, his girlfriend, and more...

First things first, how was your Goa trip? Was it a holiday outing or was work involved?Not much work was involved. I had to meet some people regarding work. So did that as well, along with exploring a little bit of South Goa. I really wanted to show that part of Goa to Natalie (his girlfriend). It was a very peaceful, relaxing trip. Actually, it's just 45 minutes away from Mumbai. So, just pack your bags, reach there and get set to unwind. And I choose to go to places where there's no network, so that I can be disconnected with the other world and have a gala time.

After gaining immense popularity through your shows Kavyanjali, Kyaa Hoga Nimmo Kaa and Bhaskar Bharti, you seemed to have kept quite a low profile. Was it a conscious decision? What happened during that phase?Gaining that popularity wasn't a conscious decision, nor was getting off the radar. I feel I was really lucky to get a chance to work with Ekta (Kapoor) in Balaji, and then I was again lucky to get a 3-year contract with PMC to do a few films with them. I was waiting for Bhanwra to release. But some things work out and some don't... and since these things didn't, so for about three years, I wasn't doing anything else.

Out of sight is sometimes out of mind. Weren't you afraid of not getting any work after your long break from TV?I've never cheated with my work. Why would I be afraid? I've always been true to my work. I'm, in fact, not afraid of a lot of things in life. I've lost everything twice or thrice in my life, but have never been afraid to start all over again. The most important thing for me, as an actor, is to act well, and I try my best at that.

Do you think you somehow failed to handle fame and thus experienced a dip in your career graph?No no, in fact, I don't think I'm that famous to handle fame. Even with the popularity that came with the Balaji show that I was doing, it never really touched me. I have my set of friends to keep me grounded. (After a pause) Earlier when all of a sudden I was doing a lot of shows, then yeah, it did hit me… so much so that I made some stupid mistakes. I started taking myself very seriously. But I realized my mistakes soon, and rectified them.

How did Shubh Vivaah happen?I really don't know how it happened. I don't know why it happened. No regrets though. I wanted to do something different once I decided to come back to the industry. The character of Amrit was different from what I had done earlier... a rustic, very gray character. I enjoyed doing it. But circumstances weren't very favourable. It didn't work out unfortunately.

Tell us about your role in Zila Ghaziabad and Lucky Kabootar…In Zila Ghaziabad, I'm playing Omi. Though I can't talk much about my character and let things out, but it's a very interesting role to play. The film has a stellar cast including Arshad Warsi, Paresh Rawal, Sanjay Dutt and Vivek Oberoi. I'm sharing screen space with Arshad and Vivek for most of the film. Very high-octane action sequences are there in the film. I'm looking to its release. As for Lucky Kabootar, I'm the main lead in the film and have two heroines cast opposite me. The film also has Sanjay Mishra and Ravi Kishan. We've shot a lot of songs at beautiful locations. I'm actually lucky to be a part of Lucky Kabootar.

You've been associated with Balaji Telefilms for quite a long time. Any new shows with the banner?I'm not with Balaji as of now. I'm getting a lot of offers from other productions houses. But I'm not really looking forward to doing TV as of now, as my films are releasing and some people feel that if I'm seen on TV, then it might harm the prospects of the films. As far as Balaji is concerned, I'm just a phone call away.